Ukraine's 118th Mechanised Brigade entered into Book of Records of Ukraine for defence of Mala Tokmachka
Service members from Ukraine's 118th Separate Mechanised Brigade have set a national record in the "Military Resilience and Defence" category for continuously holding the village of Mala Tokmachka in Zaporizhzhia Oblast for more than 1,500 days.
Source: 118th Brigade page on Facebook
Details: The certificate confirming the record was presented to the brigade command by Oleh Ivanenko, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the national project Book of Records of Ukraine. Representatives from the organisation said the area is one of the longest-held fronts in the current Russia-Ukraine war, which Ukraine's defence forces have maintained under continuous pressure from the Russian forces.
The military stressed that the national record is primarily a formal acknowledgement for historical record-keeping purposes, while the main reward for them is every metre of Ukrainian land held.
"Honour and respect to all the warriors and all the units who have held and continue to hold the lines near Mala Tokmachka," the brigade said in a statement.
The village of Mala Tokmachka in the Polohy district lies directly on the line of contact. It had a population of around 3,000 people before Russia's full-scale invasion.
Mala Tokmachka has surpassed several well-known military sieges in world history in terms of duration of defensive fighting. The defence of the village has lasted longer than the Great Siege of Gibraltar by Spanish and French forces in 1779-1783, which lasted 1,320 days.
It has also outlasted the siege of Carthage by the Romans (1,100 days) and the siege of Leningrad during World War II (872 days). Even the Second Siege of Rome by the Ostrogoths in the 6th century lasted significantly less time – 730 days.
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